<<My question is: Since I've already paid taxes on my IRA contributions, can Ijust declare them to be Roth IRAs on January 1, 1998 with no tax consequences?>>

Not a chance, Vince. You must go through the procedures to 'rollover' the IRA into a qualified Roth-IRA in order to have a Roth-IRA. -----Oh, foo.

I was expecting an answer like this, but I had hopes ... (and I'll read theregs when they're published.) With the generally excellent returns in themarket over the past several years, the bite will not be trivial. In anyevent, I've still to convert my existing IRA accounts to self-directed brokerage accounts, which will occupy me for the remainder of '97.